One of my crows is dead

I've known him and his mate for a little more than a year. I named them Soot and Ash, because Ash is leucistic while Soot was entirely pitch black. The two had their own territory, which remained largely undisturbed by other crows.

I noticed Soot walking around with a hanging wing last Thursday. It was evident that he wasn't able to fly. He remained in the small westernmost part of his territory, which is separated by water from the rest. I've only seen Ash in the other part of the territory ever since.

I called a rehabber and was told I'd have to catch him myself if I wanted them to come pick him up. So I tried. I went to him three times a day, every day. Unfortunately, he was more timid than usual and disappeared under dense bushes whenever he saw me. I lost hope of catching him, but still went every day to at least leave some food for him.

Today I went to bring him some more scrambled eggs and saw him lying by the water. It looked like another animal had killed him but hadn't eaten him.

I don’t know what this will mean for Ash, but I hope she’ll be okay. I haven't seen her today.

Soot loved cashews. Ever since I offered him his first cashew, he ignored peanuts at first. Only when it became clear that I didn't have any cashews on me would he pick up a peanut.

Last autumn and winter, Soot liked to pose for me on a small bridge pillar. I have a photo of him [here] (https://www.reddit.com/r/crowbro/comments/1p19mpp/do\_you\_think\_he\_knows\_how\_spooky\_he\_can\_be/). He almost seemed to know what he was doing, as he would only ever fly up there when I was holding a camera. He waited patiently until I took a few photos. He deserved the cashews afterwards.

I will miss Soot.